Prey: Find out who’s got your missing computer, for free

When my son’s apartment was burglarized in March and his MacBook Pro stolen, I immediately wished it had some kind of tracking program installed on it. In fact, none of my family’s notebooks have such software. Yeah, everyone’s iPhones have Find My iPhone enabled, but we’ve not done anything to protect our laptops.

With the burglary serving as a wake-up call, I went in search of a program that could help recover a stolen computer. There are several out there, but I settled on a free, open-source product called Prey. It works on Windows and Macintosh computers, and there’s also a version available for Android phones. (An iPhone version is in the works.)

Prey is a small, hidden program that installs on the device you want to protect. It runs in the background, and there’s no icon or obvious process that alerts a user to its presence. You sign up for a free account on the Prey website, and you can also register a mobile phone number. The free account allows you protect up to three devices.

If your computer or smartphone goes missing, log into your account at the Prey site or send a text message to a designated number. Set the device’s status as Missing, and it begins collecting information and sending reports. Silently, it notes the location – even if no GPS is installed – and snaps a picture using a webcam, if the device has one. For example, here’s a picture it took after I flagged my MacBook Pro as missing:

Clearly, a completely disreputable character has his hands on my computer.

And here’s a screenshot Prey took on my notebook:

If the thief has any programs running, you’d see them. For example, if an email client was active, you might be able to see the perpetrator’s name.

Prey also reports any live Web and Wi-Fi connections – including the SSID – and runs a traceroute so you can see what server the computer’s talking to.

Essentially, you get enough information to help pinpoint a location and possibly an identity.

You can set these reports to be sent at specific intervals. Prey’s free service gives you a total of 10 reports, and once you hit that limit, the oldest one is deleted to make room for newer ones. The company offers paid accounts that allow for more reports and more devices, starting at $5 a month.

Prey’s features aren’t just passive – it also lets you take action remotely. Prey will set off an alarm on the notebook that sounds for a full 30 seconds, post an onscreen text message, change the desktop wallpaper, lock the device or even delete passwords and hide email.

Is Prey effective? Consider the case of Sean Power, a Canadian tech writer and consultant. Last month, a bag containing his notebook computer and other personal items was stolen. He was hundreds of miles away, but used Prey to help locate the computer and the thief. Using Twitter and friends in New York, where the laptop was found, he was able to retrieve his possessions. You can read a riveting archive of his Twitter posts here (warning – as you can imagine, there’s some profanity).

And although he wasn’t using Prey, check out This Guy Has My MacBook, in which the victim of a recent theft used a similar program to post photos of the thief on the Web. Yes, this computer was successfully recovered as well.

I’ve had Prey on my MacBook Pro for a couple of months, and I have completely forgotten it’s there – it is completely unobtrusive. But believe me, if my notebook is ever lost or stolen, I’ll remember to use it.